Bae Suah - Nowhere To Be Found

Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Author: Bae Suah
Translator: Sora Kim Russell

The trend in publishing these days is novellas.  Short novels, tad longer than a short story are found to be the best reading for time starved people of today.  In the hands of wrong people such Book Shots (as the novellas are sometimes called) can go horribly wrong.  In the hands of right authors it can become a potent weapon.

I have read two short books today. One was The Vegetarian by Han Kang, not a very long novel. This is my second read, this novella Nowhere to Be Found by Bae Suah.

The girl in the story is in her early twenties, a college graduate, but a drifter.  She is not able to make any headway in her career by two seeming reasons. One, she does not seem to have any particular ambition; Two, she has to work hard just to put food on the table.  Her brother is a low paid janitor. Her mother is a nurse who cannot work because she is an alcoholic. Her younger sister is in school and her father is in jail.

Even so, while working in mind numbing jobs, she observes everything acutely.  She notices that the people she is in touch with now will not have any memory of her in a few years time, while there are people that she runs into on the subway who will become known to her in future.  This same fluidity is incorporated in the story when she goes to visit a 'sort of' boyfriend at his military base one day.  Due to a mix up at the reception, she is led off on a wild goose chase after her boyfriend through a bleak cold countryside.  All the time, she was carrying a bag of chicken that the boyfriend's mother had prepared.

All through the bad day, she gathers hatred for chicken, and hatred for the kind of life her boyfriend's family leads.  The day becomes a benchmark for all things horrid for her.  A day that she revisits in her mind for a long time.  Yet that day was transitional for her. She is no longer in touch with her boyfriend of the day.  All she has are the feelings she gathered.

Through disjointed narrative, Bae Suah takes us into a journey through a girl's mind.  A girl who is ordinary on the outside, but fiercely independent and strong.

The prose is sharp as knife and does not make any allowances for its readers.  It seeks neither to explain nor describe.

The story was nominated for PEN Translation Prize for the year 2015.  Bae Suah is an acclaimed writer from South Korea.

James Patterson Emily Raymond - The Little Black Dress

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@Book Shots

Book Shots is an initiative by James Patterson, the acclaimed author of thrillers, to present a series of novellas under 150 pages and under 5$ as a sort of a quick read.  The idea is to use the presenter 'James Patterson' as a brand name to sell many books; so I presume.

I am not much of a thriller reader but the name was seductive and I fell for the quickie, cheapie book.  I was expecting it to be a thriller of some sort, thanks to reputation of its Godfather.  I was wrong.

Jane Avery is a divorcee who has tried to drown her heartbreak over her cheating ex-husband by watching Netflix and shunning all social life.  Her sister and her friends are trying to nudge her back out there, but Jane isn't interested.

UNTIL she gets a sexy little black dress and turns into this whole different person.  Suddenly she is into casual sex and straight-arms any attempts at second dates or any other form of male contact other than sex.  I can understand her motivation, she has just suffered a terrible break-up and does not trust herself in any other relationship.

ALAS, the story does not go there.  Her psychological motivations are all bypassed, despite the presence of a Psychoanalyst that Jane visits every week. There are absolutely no thriller elements in the book either.  Apart from one little hiccup, nothing noteworthy really happens to her.  We are treated to rather boring descriptions of sex.  With gorgeous men. That's it.

To be fair, the writing is good, which means the language does not make you cringe.

Usually I do not try to 'recommend' or 'warn off' people from a book.  Here, I am tempted to issue a warning.  Do not bother reading this.

Anne Tyler - Vinegar Girl

@The Hogarth Press
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The Hogarth Press got in touch with eight acclaimed writers to put a modern spin on Shakespeare Plays of their choosing.  I chose to read Anne Tyler's Vinegar Girls, published under project Hogarth Shakespeare, as I love Anne Tyler immensely.

Anne Tyler brings The Taming of the Shrew to life in Baltimore. Except Kate Batista cannot really be called a shrew now.  She is merely a blunt person who lacks social skills.  She has been caring for her father and younger sister, Bunny for years now.  Her social life is, of course, non-existent.  She has a sort of a crush on a fellow teacher, but does nothing about it.  She seems content to spend the rest of her life gardening, working at a day-care and being the housekeeper.

Her father, Louis Batista is a brilliant scientist.  At home is just a lost father who likes to lean a bit too much on his elder daughter, and be a bit too indulgent with his younger one.   His assistant at work is about to be deported and he wants Kate to marry him.  This is such a preposterous idea that Kate is outraged.  Pyotr, the man in question, is an orphan from Russia.  He seems to take a fancy to Kate, he actually enjoys her bluntness and likes her long hair.  Kate turns into a prickly cactus on seeing him.

Here we get to see the comic touch of Anne Tyler.  The exchanges between Kate, her father, Pyotr and Bunny are hilarious.  Tyler has a deft touch with her characters, and she seems to have some special skills with displaced people.  Her portrayal of the Iranian American Maryam in 'Digging to America' was simply brilliant. Here also, she is deeply sympathetic (without seeming so) with Pyotr, with his peculiar accent and choice of words.  

Vinegar Girl is primarily about Kate Batista and her jaundiced view of life in general.  It is also about a displaced person (Pyotr) who is trying claim some space in this world for himself. He has left his country where he had no one and is trying to adapt to a new country where no one seems to be willing to accommodate him.

This is a link to other projects of Hogarth Shakespeare that are published or due out soon.

Winifred Watson - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

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"The person I worked for never gave me any work until the afternoon—he told me to bring some knitting in. So I wrote the whole book in the office." Winifred Watson.


Miss Guinevere Pettigrew is on the verge of being ousted by her landlady, she has no job in hand. If she fails to find one today, she would land up in poorhouse. Her employment agency gives out two addresses to her. One of them, Dylesia LaFosse requires a governess for her children.


Miss Pettigrew lands up on the doorstop of the posh address and rings the bell. After a long long time and repeated ringings of the doorbell, Dylesia opens the door. Dylesia has a problem on hand. She has a man in bed and another is likely to drop in any time. Hence, she needs Phil out immediately. Instead of asking Miss Pettigrew's business, she involves her in the problem. Guinevere is able to help her. This thrills Dylesia and she immediately puts her other problem, involving the other man, NIck, to her. Miss Pettigrew is able to help her there as well.

This seals the fate of Miss Guinevere Pettigrew. For the entire day, Dylesia keeps her close. Miss Pettigrew is a Parson's daughter and most conservative. It is still the 1930's. She is thrown in the whirlwind glamorous lives of stage artists, society ladies and fashion designers. She gets a makeover from the best people in business and begins to see how life can be enjoyed.


Through all this, she is always aware that these delights are hers only for a short time. Any time the bubble will burst, Dylesia will find out that she is destitute and disown her. With a feverish fervor of someone who has nothing to lose, Guinevere seizes the day.


Here is a delicious, charming little book that is such a keeper. I enjoyed the lovely drawings.

The story has a lovely pace. Dylesia has a host of friends and parties to attend on the day, so we get to meet a wide range of people. The characters are lively and interesting.



This was also made into a movie by Bharat Nalluri by the same name. I saw the movie way back in May 2009 and was completely charmed by it.

For the first time in my life I am torn in two. I loved the book and I loved the movie. The movie does NOT follow the book faithfully and I am not able to gauge if the movie could have been better for it. Why not just enjoy them as they are, especially as they are equally delightful.

My only grouse is that the movie changes the character of Edyth. In the book, she is merely a friend of Delysia's who is kind to Miss Pettigrew. Also, having seen the movie, I kept looking out for certain events, which spoiled my enjoyment of the book in the middle parts of it. Once I reached the end, I was too charmed to stop and try and compare them.


I mentioned in my movie review that Dylesia LaFosse reminded me a little of Holly Golightly. This book gives you the same kind of a feeling that viewing Breakfast at Tiffany's gives you. That things will turn out well and life will throw you pleasant surprise if only you will let it.

Radhika Nathan - The Mute Anklet

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@Westland publishers

The Mute Anklet is a book of historical romance. 1790s in the southern part of India form a  backdrop for the romance between Captain Trevelyan and Uma Brooke.  Some events are concocted and some are true.

We read about a curious anklet being fashioned out of silver.  It is not a thing of beauty, its value is functional.  It has some bells attached to it as anklets are wont to have.  But in case of this anklet, the bells are muted and despite its nominal value, it seems to be highly sought after.

Many years later, we find Captain Trevelyan leading a battle against the Maharajah of Madurai.  He finds a beautiful Englishwoman being waylaid by some Indians and rescues her.  He gets a nasty shock when he finds himself being taken captive in turn.  However, things are not really bad for him, as he soon discovers.

The beautiful girl he had tried to save is the ward of the Maharajah of Madurai.  She is Uma Brooke, the daughter of a maverick Englishman who loved the natives and tried to blend in.  The Maharajah is looking for a suitable groom for his orphaned ward, preferably among her own kind.  He has admired the battle strategies of Trevelyan and is in a mood to do a deal with him.

Uma and Trevelyan find themselves married to each other despite there being no love lost between them. Uma may be an Englishwoman but she was born and bred among Indians and refuses to bend to the will of Trevelyan.  He has many things on his mind and an intractable wife just adds to his worries.

There is a thread of narrative from the past that gradually unveils the mystery of the mute anklet.  The past segues into the present and we see how it affects the lives of Uma and Trevelyan.

The historical background adds spice to this tantalizing love story that takes us from Madurai to Madras to London.  Uma is on a quest of her own here, she wants to find out more about her father. There are sundry robberies and attacks on them that seem random, but may be connected.

Will Uma and Trevelyan ever unite or are they doomed to living lives apart from each other?  Will Trevelyan survive the battle against Tipu Sultan?  Will Uma ever learn more about her father.

All these questions keep you turning the pages to this well written fast paced historical romance.   A very satisfying read indeed.

Alison Weir - The Six Wives of Henry VIII

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@Grove Press

Henry VIII ruled England from 1509 to 1547.  He was the second son of Henry VII and became the heir to the throne after the death of his older brother Arthur.  He also inherited his brother's wife, Katherine of Aragorn. His quest for a line up of male heirs for his kingdom led him to run through six wives.

Those were bloody times and the will of a king was powerful.  Courtiers scurried to fulfil the wishes of the King or lose their heads.  They were quick to sense where their Master was inclined and followed.

In those times, Pope was deemed a higher authority than the King.  He could not dare to go against the Church.  In such times, Henry VIII defied the Church and broke with it to deal with his marriages as he wished.  He even took over monasteries and abbeys, enriching himself in the process.

The book, however, chronicles the lives of his wives, starting with Katherine of Aragorn and ending with the death of Ann of Cleves.  Ann was the third wife of Henry VIII and the most sagacious of the lot.  She quickly assented to an annulment of  marriage and kept out of Court politics to enjoy a prosperous and quiet life.

Katherine was ostracised and kept in terrible condition for most of her life.  She was punished severely for not bending to Henry's will.  Anne Boleyn was partly a victim of court intrigue and partly a victim of her own impatience and arrogance. Jane Seymour died in childbirth. She did produce a male heir, so it is hard to surmise whether the count of the King's wives would have stopped at three had she lived.

Ann of Cleves jumped at the chance of an easy exit, which she perhaps also got she was the sister of an influential ruler.  Poor Katherine Howard was too young and naive to save herself and was beheaded.  Catherine Parr came at the fag end of Henry's career and was sensible enough to combat the court politics level-headedly.

The book is a biography of the wives of Henry VIII.  We learn in detail about the background of the queens and the events that led to their becoming the queens, also how they died or were done away with.  We get a detailed picture of the times, what they wore, what they did.  All of the information relayed to us is verified.  For instance, if is widely surmised that the children of Mary Boleyn, the King's mistress were his bastards.  But as it is not verified, we are not led down that path.

On the flip side, as the narrative depends on letters written by the King, Queens and courtiers, we get taken in by the lies they may have uttered.

Whatever the consequences, Alison Weir refuses to judge anyone in the book, choosing to merely relate the events.  The only time she passes a judgement is when she talks about how a 17-year-old Katherine Howard was first paraded before the king and after she became a queen, mercilessly done away with by the rival factions of the King's Court.

The book provides ample material to study the times of Henry VIII, how people perceived women, marriages, children and property.

The subject of the book is not a happy one, as we know the end the poor women come to eventually. In fact, it can be quite a depressing read.  The language is functional and not very elegant.  The book is meticulously researched and well laid out, for students of that particular phase in England's history.

Daphne Du Maurier - Frenchman's Creek

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@Virago Classic Books

When the east wind blow up Helford river the shining waters become troubled and disturbed and the little waves beat angrily upon the sandy shores.

Thus starts the fourth novel by Daphne du Maurier.  The first chapter is a breathtaking description of Navron and the little creek in Navron, Cornwall.  A modern day sailor on a boat in the creek is suddenly disturbed by the visions of a beautiful lady and her French lover.

From here we zoom back into the Restoration period, perhaps 1650.  Dona St. Columb is a celebrated beauty in the court.  She is married to Harry St. Columb and has two little children.  She is an impetuous woman and given to hanging out with her husband and his friends in places of low repute.

Rockingham, her husband's friend,  fancies he can conquer Dona after they share a kiss.  Dona has no intention of following up on the kiss.  After an adventure, she finds herself sickened of the empty London society and on an impulse, takes her children and drives down to Navron, her husband's seat in the country.

Navron is a neglected place.  There is only one servant present, William.  He seems intractable and outspoken.  Dona, sickened of the fawning London society, finds him a refreshing change. Soon, the country house is in order and Dona enjoys the idyllic, lazy life there.  She takes walks around in the garden and plays with the children.

Her peace is soon shattered by the arrival of Lord Godolphin.  He warns her of a French pirate who has been disturbing the peace around here.  He robs the people on this side of the coast and quickly sneaks off to Brittany.  He wants Harry to come down from London and help capture this slippery pirate.

Dona discovers that the pirate has been using her house and anchoring his ship in the little creek close to her property.  She is captured by the pirates as she comes upon their ship in her creek.  She is captivated by their Captain, Jean Aubrey and joins forces with him, helping him rob the hapless rich aristocrats in that area. Aubrey in this for thrills and adventure and Dona St. Columb, bored with her staid life, finds him fascinating.

This is a beautiful novel.  The descriptions of flora and fauna around Navron are detailed exquisitely at every chance the author gets.

Du Maurier is known to set her novels around some wonderful houses. It was Manderley in "Rebecca" and Menabilly (said to be inspired by a real Menabilly) in "The King's General".  A later novel called "The House on the Strand" also has an ancient house that seemed inspired by Menabilly.

The author does not seem too comfortable in the London society scenes, but on her home turf, the great country house, she is in her element.  Whether it is an action scene, describing a pirate attack in a great detail, or life and manners in the country houses, she is perfect.

The novel is a fast-paced thriller.  There is action and a lot of romance.  When Dona St. Columb falls for Jean Aubrey, she does not hold back and they have a full-on affair.  There are captures and hangings and daring escapes and adventures.  Nary a dull moment, we can say.

This novel was adapted into two movies, one starring Joan Fontaine as Dona St. Columb made in 1944.  A later version starring Tara Fitzgerald (1998) departed so much from the novel right at the start, that I abandoned any attempt to view it.

This novel is not as famous at "My Cousin Rachel" or "Rebecca", yet it deserves to be.

Harper Lee - Go Set a Watchman

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I will not comment on whether I think this book is written by Harper Lee or not. I will merely judge the book as it is. Is is a good book? Is the story good? Is the writing beautiful?

I cannot disassociate the book from To Kill a Mockingbird.  Even if it were a derivate, it would be hard not to be thinking of the book that came first.  Honestly, I ordered the book because I could not ignore it.  Harper Lee is the official writer and the book she wrote tops my best book list.

That said, I approached the book with zero expectations.  My expectations were justified.

The story picks up years after the happenings in To Kill a Mockingbird .  

Scout, or Jean Louise Finch, is now 26 and living in New York. She returns to Maycomb on a vacation. 

We get a look at what our favorite characters are up to. Atticus is in his 70s and suffering from arthritis.  Aunt Alexandra takes care of Atticus, Uncle Jack lives close by. Calpurnia has retired, Dill is visiting Rome and Jem is dead.  

Boo Radley is nowhere.  There is no mention of the Radleys at all.  Of course, years have passed.  The face of Maycomb is changing.  There are some constants, some variables.

Jean Louise returns to Maycomb to her childhood sweetheart, Hank Clinton. Aunt Alexandra does not approve of Hank, he is white trash and not quality folk like they are.  That makes Hank look all the more acceptable to Scout.

Jean Louise has to make a decision about whether she should marry Hank or not.  Hank is a lawyer now the right hand of Atticus.  He is quickly gaining a foothold in Maycomb society and has political aspirations.  Jean Louise does love him but is not sure if she is ready to settle down to domesticity.

While pondering over this, she is shocked out of her wits to discover that her idol, her beacon, her father, Atticus, is in favor of maintaining racial segregation.  Calpurnia seems disillusioned and the colored community is no longer in awe of Atticus.

The writing is nothing to write home about.  The novel itself is flat and undistinguished.  There are some flashes of spark when Jean Louise goes into flashback.  Our interest is piqued because it refers to the time that we know already and love so intensely.

There are too many descriptions of characters and events.  This stalls the novel and does not allow us the luxury of discovering the characters on our own.

I was underwhelmed by the novel.  But I was expecting to be underwhelmed.  The novel does not have the stamp of the author at all.  It reads more like a poorly written derivative fiction.  

Nirupama Subramanian - Keep the Change

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Writing by Indian authors in English can be categorized into 3 broad types.

One is literary writing, where the subject is heavy, writing is excellent and the book is very edifying in all respects.  Writings of authors like Anita Nair, Shinie Antony, Cyrus Mistry, and several other writers who are settled abroad, like Devkaruni, Vikram Seth, and Amitav Ghosh fall into this category.

In the second category come a lot of good writers whose subject matter is something frothy and peppy, writing is pretty good, usually full of Indian-English, catering to a discerning audience who want a well-written book, but do  not want to be weighed down by a heavy subject.  Luckily, there are quite a few contenders for this slot. Madhulikka Liddle, Anuja Chauhan, Vani, Rupa Gulab, Kiran Manral, Andaleeb Wajid spring to my mind instantly.  I am sure that are more, may their tribe increase.

Lastly, there are many many writers whose writing is terrible and subject matter headache-inducing. The only thing in their favor is that they have a very good marketing plan.  Discerning readers marvel at their success and the readers who actually do read such books.

Keep the change belongs to the happy second category. It is well written and well plotted.

Damyanthi Balachandran has lived all her life on Amman Kovil street in Chennai.  She has excelled academically and is a CA, now working for SSV and Sons as an accountant.  At home, she faces the anxiety of her mother who wants her married off to a well placed Tamil Brahmin boy.  She is happy in the simple life, spends her time reading books, and rather uncharacteristically, watching Sex and the City on HBO.

Her mother's efforts to get her married get to her eventually and she decides to leave home.  She gets a job with First Global Bank and moves to Mumbai.  Damyanthi's first brush with the Corporate World is not very good.  Luckily, her colleague, and a fresh recruit like her, Jimmy, becomes a chum.  Together they move around the bank like flotsam and try to find their moorings.

Damyanthi's mother has new anxieties now.  She wants to make sure her daughter does not stray from the path of  "virtue".  Damyanthi would like to be a little more adventurous but finds herself holding back at key moments.

The book follows Damyanthi's journey into a new world and how she finds her feet.

The book is written, interestingly, in the epistolary fashion.  Damyanthi writes to Vic, short for Victoria, a friend who is very rich and settled abroad.  Vic has a very interesting life, unlike Damyanti.  There are times when we wonder if Vic is really Damyanthi's alter ego.

Nirupama Subramanian is obviously a very interesting author to follow.  Her second book, Intermission, is supposed to be very different from the first.  It should be an interesting book to read as well.

Anuja Chauhan - Those Pricey Thakur Girls

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Those Pricey Thakur Girls is about five daughters of Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur (retd), who owns a lavish bungalow on Hailey Road in Delhi. They are named in an alphabetical order, Anjini, Binodini, Chandralekha, Debjani and Eshwari.  Anjini, Binodini and Chandralekha are married.  Debjani has just started working as a newsreader in Desh Darpan, the state-sponsored news channel. Eshwari is in the final year in Modern School.

The story is set in the late 1980s. Justice L.N. Thakur is called BJ by his fond daughters.  Their house is flanked by a similar house that belongs to his younger brother Ashok Thakur.  Ashok is deep in debt and has sold his house to a contractor who is planning to pull it down and build multistory apartments in its place.

His wife, Bhudevi is upset about this, and also by the fact that her husband is sleeping with her cook. BJ's wife, Mamta, has to spend her days pacifying her sister-in-law and also dealing with the marital problems of her daughters.

There are plenty of typical family scenes in the novel with ghosts, past grievances, vexed relatives, married daughters with problems, nosey children and mongrel dogs frequently making an appearance. In the midst of everything, there is one Dylan Singh Shekhawat who is wooing BJ's fourth daughter, Debjani.

He is a journalist and is keen on exposing the guilty people involved in the 1984 Sikh Massacre.   Through him, we get to relive our memories of the politics of the day, An attempt by the then government to pass an anti-defamation bill to muzzle the press, and the ongoing case against the guilty in the Sikh massacre are written about.

In fact, the backroom chatter in media about these two cases and some other issues are very convincing. Also very convincing is the picture of a middle-class family in an upmarket area of Delhi.

The characters in the novel practically leap out of the pages, so well etched are they.  The language is firmly Indian English with a lot of vernacular thrown in.  It does not rankle, rather it makes you feel as if you really are listening in to a bunch of people talking.  This is the way we talk these days, with a lot of Hindi peppering our English, or a lot of English peppering our Hindi.

The plot has elements of family drama, romance and a thriller.  The thriller part was so gripping that I was almost sorry when we came back to the romance.  At no point in the book did the proceedings get boring.  This one is a page-turner guaranteed to keep your finger wet.

On the flipside, the author spends a tad bit too much of her time raving about the physical beauty of the hero. There are plenty of graphic curses and talk.  I have not heard such explicit talk among the middle classes. The heroine is a bit of a wimp.  WHY don't we get a spunky heroine who gets the guy?  It merely establishes the stereotype that the sweet girl makes a casanova see reason and think about wedding bells.

These few irritants notwithstanding, this author is certainly in for a long haul and I am certainly going to buy more books by her.  She is never going to bore me, I know.

Perumal Murugan - One Part Woman

Published: +Penguin india
Bought: +Amazon.in  +Kindle Store

This is the novel that drew fire from Hindutva outfits. An exasperated Perumal Murugan then declared that he would write no more and decided to withdraw his books. The original Tamil title of the book was Madhurobhagan.

The book was translated into English by Aniruddhan Vasudevan. He has done a laudable job of it. The book manages to retain a colloquial feel without losing a grip on English language.

Kali and Ponnan have been married to each other for the past twelve years. It was a love match. Kali was friends with Ponnan's brother, Muthu. He had an eye on Ponnan since long. One night, after a bout of drinking and hanging around, Kali asked Muthu if he would like him as a brother-in-law. Muthu agreed instantly and even spoke to his parents and fixed the match.

Kali and Ponnan are blissfully happy together. The only thorn in their side is the lack of children. This lack is not just for themselves, it is an eyesore for the entire community. Anyone feels free to comment upon it, taunt Ponnan about her barrenness, Kali about his impotency. The couple tries to redress the wrong by doing everything in their power. They go to temples, take vows, make offerings, undertake difficult tasks. All their efforts to waste as Ponnan continues to menstruate each month, much to her sorrow.

Ponnan is willing to do everything, but she draws a line at the suggestion that her husband marry again. Luckily for her, Kali is as unwilling to marry again. He is deeply in love with his wife, but there are other factors that are behind this decision as well.

They are willing to live as they are. They are a loving couple and are happy in their life. But the societal pressures are too much for them. They are made to strive continuously. The constant barrage of insults and taunts threatens to tear apart their peace and harmony.

One day Ponnan's mother decides to spend a night at their place. Instead to sleeping with her daughter, the lady decides to draw her cot over to where Kali's mother sleeps. The ladies spend the entire night whispering to each other. Ponnan's mother has a scheme for making Ponna pregnant. What remains to be seen is whether the couple will agree to it.

The novel is full of a wealth of detail about the life of a young farming couple somewhere in the pre-independence era. We are used to extolling the virtues of our society and how it gives us a sense of security. Here we see its destructive side too. As long as you are going according to the general plan, marry, be productive, have children, everyone is happy. But if your life deviates from the plan, you are lambasted roundly, and anyone can take potshots at you.

This is the mean face of the society. Feuds over property are just around the corner. Your relatives are nice to you only because they have an eye on what you can give them. Even though it is nobody's business, everybody reserves the right to comment on how you conduct yourself. Such interference can not only be annoying, it can be downright destructive.

The story is set in a pre-independence era, but many of these ills are still pervasive.. Women still bear the stigma of being childless. Our neighbors and relatives still think our business is theirs to merrily comment upon.

The novel is not entirely without flaws. The story tackles some parts in a very compartmentalized manner. For instance, the details about the couple's attempts at appeasing the Gods are all put in one long stretch. Later, we are treated to long passages about how the couple deals with the suggestion of a second marriage for Kali. It reads more like a documentary instead of a story.

Towards the end, as the story moves towards a tantalizing climax, we are suddenly diverted by digressions in the story.

These flaws do not hinder the value of the story, however. We are given a very incisive look at how a narrow-minded society does not hesitate in riding roughshod over a happy couple. For this, and for a very detailed look at the way of life in those times, this book excels.

Daphne du Maurier - The King's General

Published: Landmark
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The King's General is set in the civil war in England that lasted from 1642-51.  Cornwall was divided between landowners who were either the Royalists, loyal to the King or the Parliamentarians who believed in a democratic rule.

Against this backdrop, Daphne du Maurier sets an unusual love story between a handicapped woman and a brash General.

The story starts 15 years prior to the civil war when Honor Harris, a beautiful debutante, is smitten by Richard Grenville. Their love is not endorsed by Honor's family as Richard is seen as a debt-ridden soldier of fortune.  Her family is forced to agree to their engagement when Honor flees her home to avoid being engaged to another man.  A freak riding accident renders Honor handicapped, and confined to a wheelchair.

She breaks up with Richard and refuses to see him.  He goes away and marries a woman for her money. The civil war of 1642 brings Honor and Richard back together. Richard cares not a whit for her disability.  Honor finds she has to nurse her beloved Richard and listen to him as he rants against  incompetent colleagues who hinder the path to victory.

Richard Grenville is every inch an anti-hero.  He is brash, arrogant, foul-mouthed.  He likes to have his own way and does not care for other people's feelings. He is not above using force to loot and pillage what he believes is his by right.  He is also an excellent soldier, but his high-handed behavior lands him in trouble.  He does not know how to negotiate with his colleagues and it loses the war for the King.  Even worse, because of his behavior, no one is ready to stand by him when he is in trouble.

The book also has another character, Gartred, Richard's sister.  Like Rebecca and Rachel, she is also a wanton woman who cares only for her own appetites, whether for sex or for money. Honor is no wilting lily either.  She speaks her mind, and despite her handicap, is very independent.  She does not allow her crippled state to cripple her mind.  She remains cheerful and a person others can depend upon.  She plays a very active role in the drama that unfolds around during the height of the civil war.

There is a lot of drama here, intrigues, battles, secret rooms, spies, ravages, escape, and arson. The characters are well etched.  Dick, Richard's effeminate son who longs for his father's approval but gets only the sharp edge of his tongue. Honor's brother, Kit who first brings a Grenville into the house by marrying Richard's sister, Gartred.  Robin, another Harris sibling who loves Gartred as well. Jonathon Rashleigh who owns Menabilly where the drama plays out.  He is Honor's brother-in-law and keeper of many secrets.

Here also, as in Rebecca, the house where they live plays a major part. Menabilly, a house that Daphne du Maurier once stayed in, was the inspiration behind this novel and also Manderley, Maxim de Winter's house in Rebecca.

This novel is not as popular as Rebecca.  The story here is more complex, as it involves a lot of intrigues apart from the main story of the love between Honor and Richard.  I would rank it as one of the best by Daphne du Maurier.

This novel seems to have something in common with The House on the Strand, a later novel by du Maurier.  I will have to re-read the book to find it out, which is not a bad prospect. I have probably read The House on the Strand as often has I have read Rebecca.

Colette - Claudine in Paris

Claudine lives in Montigny and is planning to appear for her higher certificate in school when her father decides to move to Paris.  You see, he is in the middle of writing a book and needs to communicate frequently with his Publishers.  He cannot abide the slow postal system and declares that moving to Paris was the only solution.  Claudine is initially excited by the idea of moving

She declares slyly to her friends that they will not be able to bore her for long as she is moving away.  Her best friend, Luce is distraught.  Just before the actual moving takes place, Claudette has misgivings about leaving her beloved Montigny with its beautiful woods and flowers. There is nothing to be done now, the things are packed, their home let to a tenant, quarters taken up at Paris.  So Claudette packs her cat, Fanchette and sets off to Paris.

She hates the dark, shabby flat in Rue Jacob on sight. She takes ill on arrival and has to spend a long time in bed.  She is bedridden for months and her lovely long hair is cut off as it had matted and could not be combed.  She recovers her health gradually and takes stock of her surrounding.  

Her father takes her to visit his sister, Madame Coeur.  It is there that she meet Marcel, her Aunt's grandson.  Marcel is just a little bit older than Claudette and delighted to find a playmate.  Claudette is also delighted to have a companion at last.  

She also meets Renaud, Marcel's father.  He is a merry widower and does not really get along with his son.  However, he tries to be friends with him and takes him and Claudette to dinners and concerts and plays.

Claudette is settling down in Paris now, having discovered friends and dressmakers.

On the face of it, the book is a simple tale of a young girl, rather in the style of a diary.  Yet, Colette paints a charming and an intimate picture of all things around her.  She describes the doings of her father, her cat, her housekeeper Melie, her Aunt Coeur, Renaud, and Marcel.  We are drawn into her little world, and it is engaging. 

Here is what she says when she meets Marcel for the first time, "I gave him my hand without saying a word, I was staring at him so much. I'd never seen anything so charming! But he was a girl! A slip of a girl in breeches! Fair hair, rather long, parted on the right, a complexion like Luce's, blue eyes like a little English girl's and no more moustache than I had." 

It is Colette's uninhibited and a lyrical style of writing that is the best part of this book.  The book contains references to homosexual preferences of Marcel, who is involved with a schoolfellow of his, called Charlie.  Luce also makes many sexual advances towards Claudette, which are firmly repulsed.  The novel was published in 1901 and at that time these may be shocking revelations.  In the preface, Colette talks about her husband asking her to put more 'naughty' stuff into her writing.

We have come a long way, and whatever Colette writes is pretty tame by current standards.  What is still extraordinary is her beautiful descriptions of everyday things.

Published: Vintage
Bought @kindle_store amazon.in

John Hennessy - Murderous Little Darlings

                                     Published: Self

Bought: amazon.in, Kindle store

Marcus, Rocco and Juliana are 9-year-old triplets who lost their mother in childbirth.  They are angelic to look at and draw cute comments from people who see them for the first time.  They are not what they seem.  In fact, they are struggling to discover who they are.

Marcus is the eldest of the triplets by an hour and their leader.  He says they are vampires and must feed on humans and kill them.  Rocco is the middle child and easily swayed.  He hates being in thrall to his older brother, but cannot help it.  Juliana is a strong child and knows her mind.

There are murders, kidnappings and police chases to liven things up.  People who look at the 'darling' triplets do not imagine their murderous designs.

This is a small novella, just 65 pages long.  It is meant to be the first in a series of 7 books.  It has a twist at the end which makes the readers want more.  

It is perfect if you want a quick read and love horror.  John Hennessy keeps his language sparse.  I am not yet an expert on the little darlings.  I expect reading other books in the series will make the picture clearer.

Alexander McCall Smith - Trains and Lovers

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday
Bought: Amazon.in, Kindle store

"This is the story of four people, all strangers to one another, who met on that train, and of how love touched their lives, in very different ways." 

David, Kay, Andrew, and Hugh happen to share a compartment on a London bound train from Edinburgh.

"It leaves Edinburgh behind it and begins its journey over the rich farmland of East Lothian.  Then there is a coast, that brings the sight of cliffs and sea-birds; and the North Sea which was still and smooth that day under the clear morning light."

All the four people have stories inside of them, and happen to relate them, or think about them during the journey.  Andrew worked as an intern in an art gallery and met Hermione at work.  He fell in love with her and his attempts to woo her makes one of the stories.

Hugh has a love story too.  He once got down at a wrong station and ran into a lovely young girl whom he befriended and later had an affair with. All was going well until he learned some intriguing details about her past. Can he trust her?

David has a secret love from his past.  He once fell in love with a boy who visited the little place his family went to for summer, in Maine. Bruce was also holidaying in that place, he lived in Princeton where his father taught. A friendship struck up between the two, but David felt an excitement that was more than friendship.  He knew he had to keep his feelings in check always. Although they do spend time together, and Bruce never even learned what he felt like, this secret love remained with David all his life. While Andrew is relating his love story, David thinks back upon his secret summer love.

Kay's father came from a poor family in Scotland.  He emigrated to Australia to make something of his life.  He eventually worked for a railroad in a little place near Adelaide and struck up a friendship with a young woman via letters.  Did this pen-friendship turn into something stronger or did it die away?

All the stories are connected to railways in some manner.  The stories are related during a train journey as well.  Alexander McCall Smith manages to weave in references to Art and Philosophy in this book as well.  Andrew works in an art gallery, as his story is the longest of the lot, we get to hear quite a bit about paintings. My beloved series by the same author, the Sunday Philosophy Club series also referenced Art and Philosophy, as the main character in them, Isabel Dalhousie, is a philosopher who also collects Art..

The novel manages to be a light read, with great insights into the minds of its characters and life in general.  The prose is beautiful, as you can see from the two examples I have quoted  I am tempted to quote one more passage, here goes.

"There were all these places where the houses were not made of neat white board and shingle; where there was colour and movement and danger.  There was no danger in that small town, where people's lives led neatly and correctly to the grave; where the water came dosed with chemicals and the food was cleanly wrapped. He wanted to go somewhere else."

Armistead Maupin - Tales of the City

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published by Harper Collins
Bought @ Kindle store, Amazon.in


Mary Ann Singleton comes to San Francisco for a vacation and never leaves. She rents an apartment in 28 Barbary Lane. Now, this is no ordinary house. This set of apartments has a sweet landlady, Anna Madrigal, who grows marijuana for personal consumption. She is generous in doling out weed for her beloved 'family' of tenants as well.

Apart from Mary Ann, there is Mona Ramsey, Micheal Mouse, Brian Hawkins and the secretive Norman Neal Williams. These are all the part of Anna's family at 28 Barbary Lane. Apart from this, there is Edgar Halcyon who employs Mary Ann and Mona. He is connected to Anna in a mysterious way.

Mary Ann has some trouble settling in, when she finds herself at odds with people around her. She does not like her co-tenants much at first. She finds them weird and is un-used to their ways. How she finds her feet in San Francisco is the central theme of the novel.

The characters are all eccentric yet charming. The things that happen to them are unusual. The realistic, matter of fact narration of these events makes it seem quite commonplace.

Armistead Maupin gives us a glimpse of how San Francisco was in the '70s, with its hippies, its citizens very open about their sexuality, the happy lower classes, the unhappy rich people.

The episodic way in which the book progresses can be attributed to the fact that it was originally a series that were published in San Francisco Chronicles. The series has nine books in all, I expect I shall read them all, in time.

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Karthika Nair - Satyavati

Satyavati by Karthika Naïr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published by Harper Collins
Bought @ Kindle Store, Amazon.in

I read an extract of Karthika Nair's epic poem (to be published) 'Until the Lions'. It was such a powerful poem, that I set about finding out more about the author and her works.

The title of the (forthcoming) book is taken from this famous saying "Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." by Chinua Achebe. Most of our epics wax eloquent about bravery and gallantry of God-like warriors. The voice of minor characters is often drowned out.

Karthika Nair attempts to re-tell the tale in the voice of other characters, in this instance, Satyavati. A high born maiden raised by a low born father, Satyavati was destined for great things. She had only her beauty to buy herself a better life, and she learned fast how to use it.

This short excerpt, sold on kindle, is an excellent example of Nair's talent. I cannot wait for the book to be out.

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